Don’t Look Don’t Touch

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 

8  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 

In this case, grace is more strict than the Law. Under the Law there had to be an actual sexual act performed to be considered adultery or fornication. ow, you cannot be “window shopping.” I have heard women say as long as he looks, but doesn’t touch, I don’t get upset as men are attracted by sight. Under the Law, that would have flown, but no longer. I also heard a woman say that she did not care where he got his sex as long as it is not with her. If she told her husband that she condoned adultery and even encouraged it.

One of my professors and I had a conversation and he said that as long you looked and admired thinking that is a nice bottom God made and left it as that you are good to go. When you think that is a nice bottom God made and want it in your bed then you are in trouble.

Having served in three military branches in Europe and Asia with men of many backgrounds and ages, I have to say that few men could just be “art lovers” without that desire to be lovers of the women they “scope out.” Indeed, it is a very thin line too easy to cross. My civilian experience has also confirmed that to look without it turning lust is a rare thing.

So what if you look and then imagine what it would be like to see the woman naked or even have sex with her? What does it hurt? It is a heart issue. If not for the Fall, we would all be naked and only strongly desire or lust after our wives. We are not in Eden and we are corrupted in every way.

When human law officers seek to find a suspect they have three things they look for; motive, means and opportunity. If one or more are missing, the person is not a primary suspect though it may be found later that they were an accessory after the fact or they instigated or aided and abetted the person who did commit the crime. Much like the lady I mentioned who condoned her husband committing adultery and hoped for it.

What Jesus was saying is that at the moment you have that sexual lust for her, you are guilty. You have motive. You want her. You have means in that you are capable of committing adultery. All you lack is opportunity and truth be told if you had opportunity you would commit the act. So, in your imagination you have already committed it. It proves you have the heart of an unfaithful, intemperate adulterer.

In this world, where even Christian women wear revealing and provocative clothing, you are going to be tempted. Hence you have to be constantly on guard. Indeed, you need to be as close to Jesus as possible and filled with the Spirit to combat the bombardment of sexual images and other input. Flesh cannot crucify flesh.

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 

13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 

Through the Spirit, you mortify the flesh. Some have strong wills and can subdue the flesh for a period of time, but only the Spirit can cause the lusts of the flesh to die no matter which lust it is. You cannot do it. That is how many saints fall. They think they have it handled. They have reformed themselves in many ways, but they needed to be transformed by the renewing of the mind and it is the Spirit that causes that transformation. Being just humanly reformed only works until the “right” time or circumstance arises and then a man or woman falls.

While the passage speaks directly to men, the principle also applies to women. There was a time when only women of questionable character would dress immodestly or act in a seductive manner. It is a common thing for women to talk dirty and act flirty. I have been amazed at what women talk about in the work place and how they act. Even in the nursing home, I have been proposed to and propositioned. I cannot imagine what it will be like when more and more of my hippie generation enter the nursing homes. Our caretakers will need a lot of prayer. Day room activities may be far more than watching game shows.